Ex-Seahawk Jurevicius suing Browns over infection

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After veteran wide receiver Joe Jurevicius helped the Seahawks reach the Super Bowl in 2005, he signed with his hometown Cleveland Browns in the hopes of helping them achieve the same sort of success.

Joe Jurevicius

But that homecoming turned sour when Jurevicius joined a growing list of Browns who contracted staph infection in recent years and he’s now advancing a lawsuit against the team for negligence in his treatment at the team’s facility.

Jurevicius was released by the Browns last year after having to miss the entire 2008 season when minor knee surgery led to an infection that required six subsequent medical procedures to remove the staph.

It’s an interesting situation, given that at least six Browns players have suffered from staph problems since 2003, while the franchise kept insisting the problem was not coming from its own facilities. Here’s a story in the Cleveland Plain-Dealer outlining much of the history of Jurevicius’ complaints.

That story reminded me of another legal situation involving a former Seahawk that got lost in the shuffle a couple weeks ago, but is worth mentioning if you missed it.

Kevin Houser

Kevin Houser, who worked as Seahawks long snapper for the first 14 games last season before being hospitalized with a collapsed lung, is being sued for investment fraud by New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton.

Payton became the latest to file suit in U.S. District Court against the long-time Saints’ snapper, who is a licensed security broker.

Houser now is facing charges from nearly two dozen current and former Saints player and coaches, including quarterback Drew Brees, tight end Jeremy Shockey and former Saints QB Archie Manning.

Payton alleges that Houser convinced he and his wife to invest $144,000 in state tax credits for Louisiana Film Studios with an expected return of $180,000, but later discovered the studio never applied for the credits.

Houser is an unrestricted free agent with the Seahawks who has not signed with any new team yet. The Seahawks have brought in an apparent replacement, signing CFL veteran Patrick MacDonald in February.